come out.

two bells hangs a pomegranate, and between | dinary size and beauty; and they were ornatwo pomegranates a bell. Now this vesture ments not to be purchased by men, because was not composed of two pieces, nor was it of their immense value. These stones however sewed together upon the shoulders and the stood in three rows, by four in a row, being sides, but it was one lone vestment, so woven set in ouches of gold, and inserted in the as to have an aperture for the neck; not an breast-plate; so that they might not fall out. oblique one, but parted all along the breast, The first three stones were, a sardonyx, a and the back; a border also was sewed to it, topaz, and an emerald; the second row conlest the aperture should look too indecently; tained a carbuncle, a jasper, and a sapphire it was also parted where the hands were to the first of the third row was a ligure, then an amethyst, and the third an agate, being the ninth of the whole number; the first of the fourth row was a chrysolite, the next was an onyx, and then a beryl, which was the last of all. Now the names of all those sons of Jacob, were engraven in these stones, whom we esteem the heads of our tribes; each stone having the honor of a name, in the order according to which they were born; and whereas the rings were too weak for themselves to bear the weight of the stones, they made two other rings of a larger size, at the edge of that part of the breast-plate, which reached to the neck; and inserted it into the very texture of the breast-plate, to receive chains finely wrought, which connected them with golden bands to the tops of the shoulders, whose extremity turned backwards, and went into the ring, on the prominent back part of the ephod. And this was for the security of the breast-plate, that it might not fall out of its place; there was also a girdle sewed to the breast-plate, which was of the aforementioned colours, intermixed with gold; which when it had gone once round, was tied again upon the seam, and hung down there were likewise golden loops, that admitted its fringes at each extremity of the girdle, and included them entirely.

Besides these, the high priest put on a third garment, called the ephod, which resembles the epomis of the Greeks. It was woven to the depth of a cubit, of several colours, with gold intermixed, and embroidered: but it left the middle of the breast uncovered; it was also made with sleeves, and appeared like a short coat; but in the void place of this garment, was inserted a piece of the bigness of a span, embroidered with gold, and the other colours of the ephod; it is called essen, or the breast-plate, which in the Greek language signifies the oracle. This piece exactly filled up the void space in the ephod, and was united to it by golden rings at every corner; and a blue riband was made use of to tie them together by those rings; and that the intermediate space might not appear empty, they contrived to fill it up with stitches of blue ribands. There were also two sardonyxes upon the ephod, at the shoulders, to fasten it in the nature of buttons, having each end running to the sardonyxes of gold, that they might be buttoned by them. On these were engraven the names of the sons of Jacob, in Hebrew characters, six on each of the stones, on either side; and the elder sons' names were on the right shoulder: twelve stones also were upon the breast-plate, of extraor

he goeth in unto the holy place before the Lord, and when he cometh out, that he die not. The sound of the numerous bells that covered the hem of his garment, gave notice to the assembled people that the most awful ceremony of their religion had commenced. When arrayed in his garb, he bore into the sanctuary the vessel of incense; it was the signal to prostrate themselves before the Deity, and to commence those fervent ejaculations which were to ascend with the column of that incense to the throne of heaven. "One indispensable ceremony in the Indian Pooja is the ringing of a small bell by the officiating brahmin. The women of the idol, or dancing girls of he pagoda, have little golden bells fastened to their feet, he soft harmonious tinkling of which vibrates in unison

The high priest's mitre was the same as we

with the exquisite melody of their voices." (MAURICE'S Indian Antiquities, vol. v. p. 137.) "The ancient kings of Persia, who, in fact, united in their own persons the regal and sacerdotal office, were accustomed to have the fringes of their robes adorned with pomegranates and golden bells. The Arabian courtesans, like the Indian women, have little golden bells fastened round their legs, neck, and elbows, to the sound of which they dance before the king. The Arabian princesses wear golden rings on their fingers, to which little bells are suspended, as well as in the flowing tresses of their hair, that their superior rank may be known, and they themselves, in passing, receive the homage due to their exalted station." CALMET'S Dictionary, article BELL. B.

Now here one may wonder at the ill will which men bear to us, and which they profess to be on account of our despising that Deity which they pretend to honour; for if any one do but consider the fabric of the tabernacle, and take a view of the garments of the high priest, and of those vessels which we make use of in our sacred ministration, he will find that our legislator was a divine man, and that we are unjustly reproached by others; for if any one, without prejudice, and with judg ment, look upon these things, he will find they were every one made in imitation and representation of the universe; for when Moses distinguished the tabernacle into three parts,† and allowed two of them to the priests, as a place accessible and common, he denoted the land and the sea, for these are accessible to all; but when he set apart the third division for God, it was because heaven is inaccessible to me. When he ordered twelve loaves to be set on the table, he denoted the year, as distinguished into so many months. When he made the candlestick of seventy parts, he secretly intimated the Decani, or seventy divisions of the planets; and as to the seven lamps upon the candlesticks, they re

described before, and was wrought like that || ephielis, for so this calyx may be called, did of all the other priests: above which there not cover the forehead; but was covered with was another, with swaths of blue embroider- a golden plate, which had inscribed upon it ed, and round it was a golden crown of three the name of God, in sacred characters: and rows, one above another: out of which arose such were the ornaments of the high priest. a cup of gold, resembling the herb which we call saccharus, but those Greeks that are skilful in botany call it hyoscyamus. Now lest any one that has seen this herb, but has not been taught its name, and is unacquainted with its nature; or having known its name, knows not the herb when he sees it, I shall give description of it. This herb is often in tallness above three spans; its root is like that of a turnip; but its leaves are like the leaves of mint: its branches send out a calyx, cleaving to the branch: and a coat encompasses it, which it naturally puts off when it is changing, in order to produce its fruit: this calyx is of the bigness of the bone of the little finger, but in the compass of its aperture is like a cup. To render this more plain: suppose a sphere be divided into two parts, round at the bottom, but having another segment, that grows up to a circumference from that bottom: suppose it to become narrower by degrees; and that the cavity of that part grow decently smaller, and then gradually grow wider again at the brim; such as we see in the navel of a pomegranate, with its notches. And indeed such a coat grows over this plant, as renders it an hemisphere, and that, as one may say, turned accurately in a lathe, and hav-ferred to the course of the planets, of which ing its notches extant above it; which, as I said, grow like a pomegranate, only that they are sharp, and end in nothing but prickles. Now the fruit is preserved by this coat of the calyx, which fruit is like the seed of the herb sideritis; it sends out a flower, that may seem to resemble that of a poppy. Of this was a crown made, as far as from the hinder part of the head, to each of the temples: but this

The reader ought to take notice, that the very Mosaic aérahov or golden plate, for the forehead of the Jewish high priest, was itself preserved, not only till the days of Josephus, but of Origen; and that its inscription, Holiness to the Lord, was in the Samaritan characters. See Antiq. VIII. 3, and Reland, De Spol. Templi, page 132, 183.

When Josephus, both here, and chap. 6. supposes the tabernacle to have been divided into three parts, he seems to esteem the bare entrance to be a third division,

that is the number; and for the veils, which were composed of four things, they declared the four elements, for the fine linen was proper to signify the earth, because the flax grows out of the earth; the purple signified the sea, because that colour is dyed by the blood of a shell-fish; the blue is fit to signify the air; and the scarlet will naturally be an indication of fire. Now the vestment of the high priest

distinct from the holy, and the most holy places: and this the rather, because in the temple afterward, there was a distinct third part, which was called the porch. Otherwise Josephus would contradict his own description of the tabernacle, which gives us a particular account of no more than two parts.

These Decani, or seven times ten parts for the pla nets, are described in Julius Firmicus Maturnus; to whom the reader is referred. 8 being